Africa-Press – Botswana. President Advocate Duma Boko has announced the establishment of a Health First Botswana Partnership, a P5 billion fund, which the Botswana Development Corporation will commit an initial investment of P100 million.
This follows his move to declare a State of Public Health Emergency aimed at addressing the nation’s immediate medical needs.
Addressing the nation yesterday on pertinent matters concerning the health sector, President Boko said the purpose of the fund was to facilitate the strategic procurement of healthcare supplies, to adequately support the public health systems needs and to align procurement activities with the Ministry of Health comprehensive plan to ensure timely delivery of medicines, consumables, hospital machinery and spare parts, among others.
The President further announced a four-step plan to take command of the disruption of health supplies nationwide.
He said the first step included unlocking emergency resources.
“The first step is ensuring that there is an immediate alignment of all legal and regulatory instruments to ensure that there exists no legal nor regulatory impediments toward the mobilisation of required resources needed to address this emergency,” he said.
To ease the provision of an immediate solution to the crisis, the President revealed that the Ministry of Finance had approved a waiver to bypass current citizen empowerment schemes that had contributed to cost escalations and for the use of the emergency procurement method as provided for in the Public Procurement Act to address the crucial predicament the country was faced with.
Regarding step two, President Boko said a national task force of experts had been appointed, which would address the availability of supplies across all national distribution centres across the country.
“It shall thereafter make recommendations for radical, world class solutions to ensure that Botswana never finds itself in this position again,” he said.
He said the national task force, which had already, began work on August 22, on a 24-hour shift, to speed up preparatory work, comprised Head of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) logistics command, Brigadier Benjamin Masunga, Presidential Advisor on Projects, Mr Omphile Sehurutshe, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Professor Oathokwa Nkomazana, Botswana Development Corporation caretaker managing director, Mr Oteng Keabetswe and Head of the Botswana Baylor Institute, Professor Mogomotsi Matshaba.
He further said the task force would report to a National Steering Committee that would be empowered to make all decisions pertaining to the work at hand.
“The National Steering Committee shall be constituted by Minister of Health, Dr Stephen Modise, Minister for State president, Mr Moeti Mohwasa, Permanent Secretary to the President,
Ms Emma Peloetletse and BDF Commander Lieutenant General Placid Segokgo,” he said.
He said the third step involved procurement and distribution adding that the Ministry of Finance had on August 21, availed P250 million in emergency funds to facilitate the procurement of life saving medical supplies.
He further said the first consignment of life saving medicines left Gaborone last night, as part of government’s emergency response to the ongoing medical supply challenges.
He said in the last step government would put in place sustainable systems and structural reforms to ensure that such disruptions did not occur again.
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